Use of X-ray film: technical discussion with example images

Last night I tried bag processing a sheet of green ortho X-ray film, and was happily surprised with results. I used a 1 gallon zip-lock bag that just fits a sheet of 8x10 film, and poured in the chemicals, vigorously sloshing it around in a tray to keep leaks from spilling around.

The results? A lot less scratching of the (very soft and touchy, 2 sided) emulsion - and I wasn't being overly gentle either. I'm going to revisit this in the future. :)

Thanks for the tip
I've had a coupla sheets of Blue to develope for a few months and have dreaded repeating my past scratches-
regards
Ed

I would be interested in the outcome also. I did get my supplies for my 11x14 hangers that I have in mind to make. If they work out I'll be sure to post an update. It will take me some time but I will update everyone. Using hangers for my 8x10 I have not scratched any x-ray film.

Jim

I like your ziplock bag trick. I'll give it a shot. I have been using 8x10 hangers, but that requires a hell of a lot of developer.

Jim, is your pyrocat at 21C?

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Originally Posted by Jim Fitzgerald

Well, I thought I would post some follow up info for everyone using this film. I have been working on finding the developing that works the best for me and my eventual required negative density range for my carbon printing using the green sensitive film.
Here is a what I found. I develop in Pyrocat-Hd. I am using 1 gallon tanks and developing 4 sheets at a time. I am using 30ml of A, 30ml of B and 3600ml of water. I presoak for 5 minutes and then agitate for 1 1/2 minutes and then 10 seconds agitation every three minutes. I develop this way for 18 1/2 minutes and then I agitate normally for the last 3 minutes. 10 seconds every minute. The negatives match a similar image I have on Efke 25. My DR came in at 2.45Dr which for a carbon printer is very nice. The tonal ranges is outstanding with great shadow detail and the highlights under control. I can't wait to print the negatives. I do not have a way to scan the negatives and post them but I will post the print when I get it done. This works very well for me and my process and YRMV. I used an ISO of 80 for the green sensitive film BTW.

Jim

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I am considering buying some of the green sensitive for use with my large camera (with a 10X24" reducing back) but am worried about scratches, both in cutting the film down and in processing. My original idea was to develop in a 20X24" drum but from what you all have indicated the back of the film may scratch in inserting the film in the drum and removing it. Does the film scratch easily when dry, or does it only scratch when wet?

Have anyone tried a pre-soak in a hardening bath?

Sandy

Hi Sandy,

I've been using the green sensitive film on and off for about a year now. The film scratches very easily when wet, but not so when dry. I have on the other hand, lightly scratched the film when inserting it into a film holder, so insertion has to be done with caution. To avoid this, I slip a wasted piece of film halfway into the holder before inserting the x-ray film. Seems to help.
I've cut x-ray with an exacto knife with no problems. Just have to be very careful. I imagine a rotary type cutter would work okay, as long as a protective paper was layed over top of the film.
Since the film has emulsion on both sides, I'm not sure if it would develop evenly in a drum. I use a flat bottom tray, agitate very little... and gently. The more I use this film, the more I like it.
What would you recommend for a hardening bath? Never tried one, but would like to.

I think that most prehardening baths use formalin, which I don't have so I have never tried it. Still I think a prehardening bath would work well. I currently use an alum-based hardening stop, which works well.

The film will scratch very easily wet or dry, so cutting will be a challenge. I imagine a rotary cutter would be best, but you will need to put a soft cloth on the base of your cutter and be careful while slipping it under the guide.

I currently line the bottom of my trays with a sheet a glass (obviously plastic would work too) and tray develop one 8x10 or 11x14 sheet at a time. For green sensitive (ISO 64) I use Rodinal 1:100 for 6 minutes (DR=1.4 with studio strobes) and agitate for three seconds every 30. I have very few scratches on my negatives. I would use hangers, but making gallons of chemicals is not economical for my limited use of the film.

Before buying a lot, make sure it is sharp enough for your purposes. I have not found the commonly available blue or green double-sided xray film to be very sharp, but it works for me as a cheap replacement for film.

I ran across some prehardener in the "Hot Deals" section of the Freestyle site , bought some, but have yet to try it. As it is intended for alternate/homemade emulsions I figure it won't hurt development.

Stupid question-
would this stuff survive international postage?
Any chance it's insensitive to the wavelengths used by scanners?

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Originally Posted by Jason Greenberg Motamedi

Before buying a lot, make sure it is sharp enough for your purposes. I have not found the commonly available blue or green double-sided xray film to be very sharp, but it works for me as a cheap replacement for film.

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Does the lack of sharpness come from the coating on both sides? And is all of the xray film coated on both sides? Jim Fitzgerald is using this stuff for carbon transfer printing, which is a very sharp process, (with ULF negatives at that) and I can not imagine that he would be using the stuff if it did not give sharp results.

Sandy King